Beneath a Savage Sky
by antler
Summary: AU, 8059, D18. There is a wild glint in Yamamoto's eyes, more restless than the usual violence branded into Hibari's skin. Gokudera wonders if this is the moment the Feral will snap and kill him, before the boy sighs shakily and smiles up at the rain.


It is blinding outside.

Gokudera glares out over the courtyard, already missing the cool breeze within the shade of the temple. The white marble railing burns against his hands but he grips tighter, frustration darkening his face.

"Is this really necessary?" he growls at the taller man next to him. The blonde smiles serenely, skin golden in the sun.

"Is it necessary? Probably not. Is it going to happen? Yes."

Dragging a hand through his silver hair, Gokudera sighs heavily. "I don't want a personal servant trailing me about. I'm perfectly capable - "

The blonde smacks him in the arm excitedly. "Shut up and look. They're bringing them in."

Glowering, he nevertheless watches the entrance to the courtyard as two guards appear, followed a group of men and women. The balcony is low and Gokudera can see each person as they stop next to the fountain in the middle of the garden. He notes the wonder in their faces.

An older man appears beside the blonde. "Dino. I've already assigned jobs within the palace for most of them. The remainder are for you to pick amongst." Down below, a guard unwraps a scroll and begins droning instructions.

"Eight-b, twelve-b, and thirteen-a, you're going with the linens mistress." Three women part from the group, glancing about nervously, before wandering over to a harried-looking woman under the columns. "Three-a, three-b, six-a, and seventeen-c, go with the Captain for weapons training."

The guard continues on for what seems forever to Gokudera as he bakes in the heat. He glances sideways as sweat drips down his face and sees Dino still smiling cheerfully, turning to talk to one of his ever-present soldiers. Huffing loudly, he tears at his fingernails.

"Dino, Gokudera. It's your turn." Gokudera glances up - he doesn't remember dozing off - then looks down at the courtyard where the guard stares at them expectantly.

"Come on, let's go down there." Whatever protests Gokudera has are lost as he stutters, dragged to the stairs by an enthusiastic Dino. He nearly trips down them and follows his elder to stand by the guard, scowling.

"We saved a bit of an array, as we weren't sure exactly what you two were looking for in them." The guard hides a yawn poorly. "That old man will become a tutor if you don't want him. He's smarter than the others. The middle ones," he explains, pointing lazily at the younger, tough men, "are the bodyguard type. And the ones on the right are more of indoor servants, if you catch my drift. Effeminate, built for running errands and cleaning up after you more so than protecting you." Gokudera sneers at all of them, almost missing the fond look the guard casts at one of the boys on the right. Almost.

"They're all Ferals to me," he mutters dismissively.

Dino grabs his arm to keep him from walking away. His grins charmingly at the old man. "I think you should send him inside. He doesn't need to be standing in the heat; have someone take him to the library."

The guard waves at a soldier standing off to the side, giving him instructions when he rushes over. As he is guided away, the old Feral looks at Dino curiously, momentarily inclining his head before disappearing behind the staircase. Gokudera jabs Dino in the ribs.

"You're so weird. You treat them like equals," he hisses. The blonde merely laughs.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we see anything we want. You can send them off." The guard shrugs and motions the men away.

Dino and Gokudera's adviser comes down from his place on the balcony. "Weren't there two others?" he questions the guard.

"Uh." The guard stammers. "They're not particularly..._suited_ for serving royals. We were planning on using them as practice enemies for new recruits."

"What's wrong with them?" Gokudera asks despite himself.

"Well, one of them is extremely vicious. He nearly killed several soldiers during his capture. We had to keep him separate even from other Ferals because he tries to...we think he might eat them. We don't really know much about the other one. They were together when they were found, and while he doesn't seem aggressive, we fear he'll snap like the other."

Dino laughs exuberantly, as though he just heard the best joke of his life. "Show me them." Gokudera glares at him but is ignored.

The guard waves uneasily at a soldier on the far wall. A few minutes pass in an uncomfortable silence - except for Dino, who hums happily.

Finally, they see several guards stride around the left edge of the courtyard's entrance. At first, no one is visible except for the phalanx of five guards. They stop a short distance from Gokudera and Dino, falling out of formation to reveal the two Ferals they were surrounding.

The boys - Gokudera is startled to see they look about his age - are each chained about the feet with only enough slack to walk. Another chain keeps their hands their backs, and they both have metal collars on with a thick leather leash each, held tightly by a guard on either side of them. The boy on the left is taller, hair spiked messily; he glances about with wide eyes and a strangely innocent expression.

Gokudera knows immediately that the Feral on the right is the so-called dangerous one. His dark, shaggy hair frames cold eyes that seem to radiate hatred, and his pretty face is twisted into a snarl. Unnerved, Gokudera follows the line of the Feral's glare, eyes widening when he sees Dino smirking back at the infuriated boy.

"I want that one," Dino states, voice quiet as he points. The Feral stumbles forward as his leash is tugged; their eyes never deviate as he is dragged closer, the soldier hurriedly handing the rope to Dino and rushing back. "Hello. I'm Dino. You're living with me now."

The boy only growls in response.

"Can you even understand me?"

He simply continues his low thrum of anger.

"He understands fine." They all look away, to the other Feral still standing peacefully with the guards. "He just doesn't like to talk. His name's Hibari." Hibari spins and sends the boy a look that makes the soldiers visibly shiver, but he doesn't seem to care as he smiles lightly at up at the sky.

"Unchain him." The soldiers look at Dino warily but follow his order, unlocking the cheerful Feral and snapping the collar off his neck.

"Thanks!" The boy's accent is thick. Gokudera finds himself irritated at his cheerful disposition for some reason he can't place.

Dino chuckles. "What's your name?"

"Yamamoto."

"Well, Yamamoto. I'd rather not see you become target practice, so go with Gokudera here."

Gokudera sputters. "W-what? I don't want a goddamn servant, why the fuck won't you people li - " His tirade is cut off by Dino's hand over his mouth, and Yamamoto almost floats over, his steps light. The Feral grins.

"It's settled, then." The adviser claps his hands once. "Find something to do with the others. I'm sure you two have things to do, as well." He stares pointedly at Dino and Gokudera, before hurrying off to the shade of the temple.

"Give me the keys," Dino calls to one of the soldiers. He catches the bunch and takes a step towards Hibari. The Feral jerks away and Dino laughs, clear and brilliant, and the Feral stalls but still glares. Dino unlocks his legs and collar, tossing the bonds to the ground, but leaves his hands chained. Hibari tilts his head.

"Hah, I don't trust you that much yet. I'll give you your hands when you prove you won't strangle me."

Yamamoto giggles, a noise that catches Gokudera off guard. "It'll be a long time before that happens.

Hibari crowds in on the taller boy, snarling in his face._ "Herbovorulo."_

Laughing nervously, Yamamoto scoots away closer to Gokudera, who pushes him aside roughly. "I'm not going to protect you from that," he grumbles.

"Hibari," Dino says in that calm voice that always seems to hypnotize his own men. The Feral turns harshly. "Come with me." And with that, he walks away, not bothering to look back at him.

Head twisting to the side once more, Gokudera sees confusion creep onto the boy's face. Hibari watches Dino's retreating back intensely, torn somewhere between running off and following the strange man. After strenuous consideration, he stalks after the blonde, more like a hound on a scent than a boy.

"Well then." The guard cuts in suddenly, causing Yamamoto to flinch. "I have other duties." He bows his head at Gokudera and leaves.

Gokudera glares at his Feral. "Alright. Since I'm stuck with you, I'll lay down the ground rules. Don't touch me. Don't be noisy. Don't cause trouble. Otherwise, I don't care what you do to occupy your time. Just stay out of my way."

The boy smiles lazily down at him. "You don't like me very much."

"No. Dino may like to befriend Ferals, but I don't. In fact, I don't befriend anyone. Don't expect anything different." With that, he strides off for the staircase.

Yamamoto watches him as he disappears into the temple upstairs. With a shrug, he drifts to a stone bench under the shade of the balcony. Slouching onto it, he closes his eyes, fanning his face.

A light wind picks up, caressing his cheekbones, and he smirks, hand dropping. He can hear a guard pass by a few metres off, but doesn't bother to open his eyes. The guard throws him a quizzical look but continues on; vaguely, he notices that there is no breeze in the courtyard except the one rustling the bushes around the Feral, but the thought disappears as quickly as it surfaced.

* * *

><p><em>oh fuck why am i writing this. so i've suddenly been overcome with the urge to write fanfiction since i'm in the weird long summer between high school and university. of course, i didn't have things like free time during my last semester of senior year, so i...only know fandom stuff about Team Fortress 2 and classy literature; as there is nothing appealing about writing smut about Jude the Obscure or some shit, i decided wth, let's write Reborn.<br>_

_so anyways i don't know how to write chaptered fics but i feel asleep thinking about this plot bunny and decided to run with it. um it will switch perspectives as i'm not overly fond of Gokudera so the style will probably change drastically depending on the character. this will probably degenerate into smut at some point because i am a terrible person. yeahhhh. (author's notes will never be this long again, promise.)  
><em>

_also it will make more sense as time goes on, but Hibari and Yamamoto speak a different native language because they're Ferals and whatnot. so you'll see phrases and words in another language but i'll always explain. when i tried to come up with a different language, i realized i don't know any Japanese. then i thought about Korean but i'm too lazy to write Hangul or romanji. then i thought about Spanish but that sounded boring. so i settled on Esperanto, which you should just wikipedia instead of me explaining. so italicized other language = Esperanto._

_** herbovorulo** - herbivore. lol_

_listening: 2NE1 - I Am The Best; Se7en - Bai Ri Meng (Daydream)_


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